The Good Life

Nur Kasih

The whole family went to watch the much anticipated Nur Kasih the movie on 20th May 2011. For those interested, check out the trailer below.

I have separated the review into pros and cons. Read below: [SPOILER ALERT]:

Pros

Excellent cinematography. Some scenes, like the one at the cemetery, had a superb angle. We were gobsmacked!

Superb acting

Location of certain scenes was brilliant, especially the ones shot overseas (the one in Petra, Jordan)

Well defined plot with sub-plots that gave the whole movie an enjoyable depth

All characters had depth and were colourful characters (I guess that was inherited from the TV series, I am comparing this to the recently released Hikayat Merong Mahawangsa where the characters and plot were too simple)

Brilliant Islamic messaging that highlights modern stereotypes.

This is the scene where Adam invited an Ustaz to the rehab center that he owns for talk on a certain religious topic. The Ustaz refused to proceed with the talk as he said the audience (the boys and girls in the rehab) were not dressed appropriately and lack manners. Adam said there’s no point if we enforced manners and Islamic dressing if we do not help them with their inner understanding on the religion, rather than focusing on the facade. The Ustaz did not agree and he left.

Another is when the boss of a certain firm wanted to engage Nur Amina to design a night club (she’s an architect). Amina refused to accept the job offer as she said it’s against her principles to be involved in something that is not permitted in Islam (haram activities). The boss lashed back at her saying she sounded ridiculous, like somebody from a village, and with this mindset she could never progress in this modern world. He also said she is not being thankful as he said he could have given the job to anybody.

Cons

I know it’s a love story, but towards the end, when there was a small fighting scene involving Aidil and some gangsters. I was half hoping that Aidil would have some fighting skills, silat or anything of the sort.

Some of the scenes might be a bit overly dramatic, especially about how Adam had dreams of terrorist attacks in the Middle East. A stereotype, perhaps?

Towards the ending, where they showed Aidil and Adam growing old by using pictures of their future achievements, it was too short and it doesn’t give the audience a full grasp of how successful they became. Furthermore, the scene of the “old” Adam and Aidil with their kids showed their kampung house unchanged. To show that the timeline is now 30+ years in the future, they should have made the kampung house look older and the surroundings change (perhaps more buildings around it?)

Nur Kasih at Petra

All in all, I have to admit that this is by far the finest Malay (Islamic themed) love story that I’ve seen in the local scene. Good job to the director and the crew. The director, Khabir Bhatia, definitely has his own magical touch when it comes to cinematography. He previously worked on the TV series for Nur Kasih and that was a piece of art as well. I hope to see more brilliant movies from him in the future.